The Worst Artificial Barriers In Video Games

Even the most open-world experiences in video games must restrict the player in some way. If you could go everywhere right away, what would be the point of progressing? Sometimes a barrier makes sense, like a locked door in need of a key, or a wall too high to climb. More often though, you have to suspend your disbelief and tell yourself that, even though you are skilled enough to replace the batteries in a flashlight without turning it off, slipping in between those trees just isn’t going to work.

I HAAAAAATE that lol. I was playing Oblivion one time, and saw Valenwood (I'm pretty sure it was Valenwood). I had a feeling of joy. So I swim off the dock of Cyrodil and almost, ALMOST get to the shore of Valenwood, and I see that. All that environment...unexplored. :(

Same goes for Skyrim and almost going to Morrowind. But that time it was RIGHT THERE. ARRGGH.

I know I can't travel there, but something in me just says "Maybe this time. I'll just go look."

I usually don't mind the broken doors in Silent Hill, because it could be explained that the town itself is preventing you from opening them. But yeah, there's no excuse for the Silent Hill characters refusing to step over small logs or boxes to escape the town (I'm looking at you, Murphy!)

Super Mario Sunshine features an invisible wall. In the sea. Even a line of buoys or a swimming pool rope would have been acceptable as a reason why you can't go past it. But, no, it's a completely invisible wall.

A point of no return is a kind of invisible wall, as much as the objects blocked in a hallway can be at least. This is annoying if you like to potentially be able to see all of a game in one go e.g. if you thought that you were going down a sceret passage but were in fact going down a mandatory part of the game. The games maker either wants you to have to replay that part next time if you want to see everything or perhaps doesn't want to have to use up extra memory to remember what you did in the last section. It happens on the beach in The Last of Us for example. It feels acceptable if the point of no return is happening because you've just ending up sliding down a bank or something from which you cannot easily get back up. It doesn't feel so good when the point of return has occurred because of your own stupid hands closing a giant manhole cover back on you in a cut scene, reminding you that you may be a player but it's still not you writing the story.